This is a profoundly important book that gives voice to Chinese 

LGBTQI+ Catholics living inside and outside of China. These 

testimonies are hugely insightful into the heartfelt desires, hopes and anguishes of Chinese men and women. Spanning over four hundred pages, this volume recounts the stories of more than forty Chinese LGBTQI+ Catholics residing in various parts of the world—including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and overseas communities. Each story is unique; each serves as an expression of their innermost thoughts and feelings; and each chronicles the struggles and journeys they have undertaken in navigating their dual identities as both LGBTQ individuals and members of the Catholic faith.

Homosexuality may have been legalised in 1997 in China, but LGBTQI+ face daily hardships as practicing Catholics due to the legacy of external influences in China dating as far back as the Tang Dynasty. External political and moral codes of Christianity and repressive sexual mores forced homosexuality to become illegal. The struggles for acceptance and equality in society may have been won in China, but the legacy of skewed Christian views on homosexuality have scarred many LGBTQI+ Catholics, mainly due to the conservative positions of their families. Yet despite this, there are some beautiful and poignantly expressed stories about the tensions of a love of a lover and for their religion. 

These fears and desires are not unique to China, they are human traits found the world over. They clearly demonstrate the ordinary, everyday dreams that homosexual people, just like heterosexuals, have for love and intimacy. Some found help and support from friends, others from an empathetic Catholic priest. Nonetheless, the struggle of ‘coming out of the closet’, to live an open and authentic life as a gay person is an ongoing battle.